A herd of slow-paced, moaning and gruesome zombies stomped their way through town on Saturday, October 12, raising much needed funds for the Whyalla Regional Cancer Unit.

Whyalla played host to our first ever Zombie Walk, with more than 180 participants pulling out every stop to be the ugliest zombie there.

From undead brides, clowns, bumblebees to Michael Jackson in Thriller, there was no one repeated zombie.

The group walked from the Middleback Theatre down Nicholson Avenue, onto McDouall Stuart Avenue for a blood break at the Westlands Hotel, finishing at the One Stop Shopping Centre district on Flinders Avenue.

Event coordinator Karen Harrison was overwhelmed with the turn out on the day, with her small idea turning into a large reality.”

I think it went extremely well for my very first zombie walk,” Karen said.”

When we were doing our registration at the Middleback our count for attendance got to 100 and I had a very proud moment even then, but then there were more flooding into the theatre and that made it even better.”

Karen said she was amazed at the range of diversity, not only in costumes but people who came out in support of the cause.

“There was so many kids that joined the walk also there was a couple of people that are suffering from cancer at the moment that joined in, as well as elderly people who participated” Karen said.

Funds are still being calculated for the walk, as there is still an influx of support for the community.

Karen said that so far the count has topped $1000, which is seen as an exciting contribution.

Besides raising money for a much deserving cause, Karen said the walk brought in traders to the One Stop Shopping Centre which was great for business.

“People that don’t usually come to the shopping centre will be coming back, which is fantastic for our shopping centre,” she said.

Karen said there were many highlights to the day, including the head count of 180 and beginning the walk and seeing people pull over to the side of the road to take photos and wave.

“Having so much support from Whyalla residents is amazing,” Karen said.

“People were so giving on the day some offering more than the $2.00 registration fee.

“To see it all come together after so many months of planning was a massive highlight to all the people that helped put this event together for such a worthy cause.”

Karen coincided Whyalla’s walk with the intention to run alongside the Adelaide Zombie Walk, which she now said will be an annual event.

“The Zombie Walk will be back again next year bigger and better with more people joining the planning of this event,” Karen said.

“Please feel free to raise any more ideas to make our event even better on the Whyalla Zombie Walk Facebook Page and Bring on Whyalla Zombie Walk 2014.”

Karen would like to thank all of the businesses and organisations who contributed to the event, as well as individuals.

“Ian Cameron led the walk with his zombified ute a big thanks to Ian. So many people put a massive effort into their costumes they all looked amazing,” Karen said.

“Allesha Watson and Kerry Rae did a massive job of making a normal face into a Zombie Face, to see people taking shape in the morning was a great highlight to my day.”